About one billion people live in India. Most of these people are Hindu The Hindu religion is also a way of life. In the Hindu religion, there ore special ceremonies important times are and sixteen in a For each ceremony there is a special priests say prayers and read from a special book. One of these is choosing a name for a baby the The bleth of a baby is a happy time in a and the word om on the baby is born, the parents wash the baby write a pen gold. baby's tongue. They write the word in honey with isa word in the Hindu gion, Hindus say this word over and over again when they are proying Twelve days after the baby born, a priest visits the family to name the baby. The priest makes a horoscope for the baby. To moke this horoscope, the priest writes down where the stars and planets were at the time the baby was born. From this, he reads the baby's future and suggests a good name for the baby. Many children have names of Hindu gods and goddesses or have names with other religlous meanings. At the ceremony, there are guests. The mother holds the baby. The father is on one side. In front of them, there a plate with rice on it. The father uses a long, thin piece of gold to write the name of the family good, the baby's name, and the date of birth in the rice. Then he says the baby's name in the baby's right ear. The priest then blesses the baby. He also blesses the candies and food and then passes them to the guests. This ends the ceremony of giving a name to a baby.